Scoala Gimnaziala SZACSVAY IMREÂ
in Oradea, Romania
Scoala Gimnaziala SZACSVAY IMRE is in the northwest part of Romania, in the city of Oradea.
Sixty-nine teachers and nineteen non-teaching staff are working in three buildings, one of them in the rural area of Bihor county (Episcopia Bihor). On two levels - primary and secondary - we house 822 students from the preparatory through the 8th form. They continue in the 9th form with the passing of a "leaving" exam. We test them in Romanian and Hungarian languages and Maths. Last year, we introduced the Chess Palace optional discipline in 4 of our classes as part of our ongoing Erasmus project outcome.
We want to build a safe and supportive school climate for each child, developing open-minded attitudes towards the world. We also guide students towards their future careers in accord with their potential. We do our best to integrate children with different disabilities into the group: 8 orphans, 32 students with bad financial conditions, 23 students with special educational needs, and 114 students with learning disabilities and low academic grades. With this project, we want to find a solution to the threats identified two years ago. These are increasing students whose parents work abroad and students living with their grandparents or relatives. Their decline in emotional well-being is intensely felt in the class atmosphere, and their peers do not accept them. With this project, we want to help their inclusion. We wish to provide them attractive learning environment by engaging them in craft-related activities.
Our teachers noticed the benefits of Arts and Crafts activities on students - they open themselves more, cooperate, and accept each other. Having more craft-related activities means we can invest in building their cognitive, physical, and social development and help to boost their academic performance. By meeting our European peers and trying out crafts that started disappearing, we support students in the process of a conscious and independent choice of the next stage of education. Working with tools, teamwork, and problem-solving are cross-disciplinary skills. Learning disappearing crafts can offer an excellent job opportunity for our pupils in the future.